Summer Academy 2021 Student Highlights

During three weeks in July, 37 high school students participated in Summer Academy online. Students met on Zoom in real time for lectures, discussions, and activities hosted by faculty of The King’s College, earning one college credit for each week of study.

Each Summer Academy week offered a variety of track options. The Entrepreneurship track and the Investments and Innovations in Finance track ran July 11-16, tracks in American Legal Studies and New York City on Film took place July 18-23, and tracks in Arts and Culture Reporting and Sports Reporting ran July 25-30.

For the first five years of the program, King’s hosted Summer Academy on the College campus and on field trips around New York City. In 2020 and again this summer, the College opted for a remote program to eliminate the need for travel, making Summer Academy more available to families. The online format also meant that students could earn college credits at a significantly reduced price (enrolling in one week cost $200, with each additional week only $150 more). Several of the participants signed up for multiple tracks, filling a total of 51 seats.

Emdya Permuy, a rising sophomore from Florida, enrolled in the Arts and Culture Reporting track with Prof. Paul Glader, and said, “I now know the reason why reporters sometimes say that someone is ‘burying the lede.’ I also learned about the extensive amount of research that must happen before writing an arts and culture review.”

In the Sports Journalism track, Prof. Clemente Lisi guided students through the history of sports journalism in New York City with a focus on the life and faith of baseball legend Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Arts and Culture Reporting track and the Sports Journalism track also held a few combined sessions with guest presenters John Vitti of The Boston Globe, author and journalism educator Katina Paron, and Newsweek’s Scott McDonald and Mary Walrath.

Permuy also attended the Entrepreneurship track in Week 1 with Dr. Paul Mueller. In this track, Permuy said, “I learned about the significant role the government plays in our capitalist system, and why economic freedom is the key to success.”

Abi Ingram, a rising senior from California, added that in the Entrepreneurship track she learned that “property rights play a major role in who can operate a business and where.”

Also during Week 1, Dr. Dami Kabiawu and Prof. Michael Hrynuik taught the track in Investments and Innovations in Finance, providing an overview of capital markets, firm valuation, and new developments in the field. Lectures centered around such questions as, “Is Tesla really worth $600 per share?,” and “Can social impact bonds, an innovative financial instrument, promote positive social change aligned with Christian values?”

For Itzel Robles, a rising junior from Harlem, New York, a favorite part of the program was the opportunity to create a short film in Dr. Stephen Salyers’ New York City on Film track. Robles says the creative exercise pushed her “to get out of my comfort zone to go out and create a film that is unique to me.”

Raychel Yost, a rising senior from Oklahoma, participated in all three weeks of study. She said that the American Legal Studies track in Week 2 with Dr. Joseph Griffith and Dr. Kimberly Reeve was a personal highlight. “I learned so much about how the Supreme Court makes decisions and how the fundamental rights we are guaranteed in the Constitution work in action.” The track included a Q&A period with a panel of lawyers as well as lectures on freedom of speech, free exercise of religion, and freedom of press and assembly.

After each day’s lectures concluded, students participated in informal activities with one another such as NYC trivia and Random Theme Debate, a light-hearted competition modeled off of an event in the College’s Interregnum Conference.

On her overall experience of Summer Academy, Yost said, “I wanted to be a part of Summer Academy to get an idea of how King’s operates. What I learned is that it is a rich community that challenges its students, utilizes discussion, and wants students to succeed.”

Image courtesy of Drew Nagy.